Gareth Preston's Blog, page 11
August 11, 2019
Fine Line Doctor Who audios are back online
Back in the Nineties, when new Doctor Who had been absent from our televisions screens for a while, a fan mini-industry of fiction, audio and video adventures sprang up. I had become caught up in serious Doctor Who fandom in the mid-Eighties and it was in the pages of Celestial Toyroom that I first discovered adverts for the Audio Visuals, Doctor Who stories made by some of the talents who go on to found BBV and Big Finish Productions. They were extremely polished for the time and inspired me...
BERGcast – The Quatermass podcast we’ve been waiting for
The history of Professor Quatermass in all his many incarnations across television, cinema, books and stage is a particular love of mine, so I would be a cheerleader for this new podcast series, even if I wasn’t one of it many contributors.
It’s the brainchild of cult tv enthusiast, Jon Dear and over the next few months will cover every serial, film, and spin-off, together with a couple of diversions into media which is closely connected to the development of Quatermass.
Episode one is out no...
June 22, 2019
Vengeance on Varos
Television loves a drama about itself. In fact it is almost a surprise it took 22 years for Doctor Who to set a story in a TV studio. Vengeance on Varos cleverly uses the audience’s awareness of both the language of television, and the lively debate about the effects of screen violence, which has rumbled on since popular entertainment was first projected on to a white sheet. Back in 1985, the whole “video nasty” controversy was still fresh in minds of many UK viewers. The early burgeoning vid...
June 16, 2019
Westlake Films Remastered Part 2
Sometimes you look back at old work and marvel where you found the time and the energy to make so much material. Recently my friend Kevin Hiley has been remastering the best of Westlake Films and putting them on Youtube. Upscaling them to HD and correcting a few flaws, although resisting the urge for any George Lucas style revisionism, I’m glad to say.
Two men. One deserted station. In a place that might as well be the middle of nowhere.A comedy about the sheer hell of other people.
The bes...
June 10, 2019
Westlake Films Remastered Part 1
My friends and my experiences writing, acting and gophering have been a big part of my creative life. Looking back we have created quite a varied body of work on a micro-budget. Now Kevin Hiley has decided to give our ten generally accepted best productions the remaster treatment. HD upscaling, picture and sound fixes, and in some places new FX and music. If you have never seen any of these films, there has never been a better time.
With ten of our films getting producer/director Kevin Hiley’s...
May 17, 2019
Talking Pictures May Podcast
It’s Hammer (Films) time! The latest episode of Adam Roche’s podcast, dedicated to UK vintage film and television channel Talking Pictures is out now at your favourite podcasting source. Search for the Talking Pictures TV Podcast. I’m delighted to say I have made the cut again with a quick piece on 1961’s Terror of the Tongs, an interesting Hammer Film which is more of a period adventure than a horror film, despite the way it was advertised. Find out what Christopher Lee thought of playing Ch...
May 2, 2019
Promoting Ladies in Lavender – and myself
One of the aims of this blog is to be a one stop shop for my work. It’s been busy lately, both with completing the first year of my Digital Technology Solutions Apprenticeship and supporting the last three productions of the Bolton Little Theatre season. But this does give me creative outlets: two new videos and my first self-created webpage in a long time.
Ladies in Lavender, based on the popular film written by Charles Dance and starring Dame Maggie Smith and Dame Judi Dench. Adapted for...April 27, 2019
Friends’ fantasies: White Sand 3 and Quantum Assassin
There’s two new books set in exciting fantasy worlds coming out soon and the link between them is that they’re written by friends of mine. Talented comrades who have been rather more productive than me on the fiction front of late.
First up is the third and final volume of Brandon Sanderson’s White Sand graphic series, as adapted by the multi-gifted Rik Hoskin. The first two volumes have been a big hit for Dynamite Comics and Mr Sanderson himself has been delighted with Rik’s revision of his...
March 16, 2019
The Dresser
Life is slightly stressed at the moment. In addition to my Digital Technology and Solutions Apprenticeship (above is a picture of myself speaking as part of National Apprenticeships Week) I am fulfilling my commitments to Bolton Little Theatre and assembling the sound cues for the last three plays of the season, most crucially The Dresser, which will be presented 8th -13th April. I’ve just made a trailer to promote what promises a marvelous play, and I decided to use the opportunity to learn...
February 4, 2019
Talking Pictures TV podcast
In the last few years, Talking Pictures has gradually built up a reputation as the go to TV channel for classic and cult films. In fact it has recently been confirmed as the most successful independent television channel in the UK. This confidence is reflected in its latest production – an official podcast which launches today.
For a long time, I and many others have wondered why with so many movie channels available, the opportunity to see old films has become increasingly difficult. It seem...
